⁸ God said, ‘The leaders may not believe you. They may not think that the miracle with the stick shows anything. But they may believe you when you do the second miracle. ⁹ But they may still not listen to your message. If they will not even believe those two miracles, do this: Take some water from the River Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water that you take from the river will become blood on the ground.’^[a]

¹⁰ Then Moses said to the Lord, ‘My Lord, I cannot speak well. I speak slowly and I speak with difficulty. I never could speak well. And even now, when you have spoken to me, I still cannot speak well.’